Typically, the shotguns in Halo games have been pump action affairs, with the M90 and M45 shotguns absolutely decimating enemy Spartans in close range. The Heatwave gets a pass from me due to how gimmicky it feels, and the bouncing shots and trajectory swapping have more utility, but the CQS48 Bulldog feels like the biggest downgrade from the Halo games of the past. However, there’s one issue to me that’s more egregious than all the others, one that I’d go as far as to say ruins part of Halo Multiplayer’s core identity entirely: the shotgun fucking sucks. There’s also the battle pass progression controversy, an ongoing issue that 343 have been continually refining. Most tend to agree that the core gameplay of Halo Infinite absolutely slaps, but concerns have been raised about how the cosmetics work, with certain pieces and shaders only viable on certain armour cores and weapons, and the forced cross play in most playlists has seemingly let M&K aiming demons and even cheaters run rampant on unsuspecting controller players. While we’ll still have to wait and see if the campaign is up to snuff, opinions on the multiplayer have been all over the place. With Halo Infinite’s multiplayer having been out for over two weeks now, people from across the world have had their chance to get their feelings out there on what could be the best multiplayer shooter of 2021.

Halo 1 shotgun